Michigan Nurses File Petition to Decertify Teamsters Local 332 at Henry Ford Genesys
After Year-Long Strike, Nurses Petition to Decertify Teamsters Union at Henry Ford Genesys
Nurses at Henry Ford Genesys filed an NLRB petition to decertify Teamsters Local 332 after a year-long strike. A hearing is set for Sept. 24. A group of nurses at Henry Ford Genesys Hospital in Grand Blanc Township, Michigan, has asked the National Labor Relations Board for a secret-ballot vote on whether Teamsters Local 332 should keep exclusive bargaining power over their workplace.
The decertification petition was filed September 9, 2026. According to reporting by WNEM, more than 30 percent of the 385-member bargaining unit signed in support—the showing of interest federal law requires before an election can be scheduled. The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation is providing the petitioners free legal aid.
Attorney William Messenger, legal director of the Foundation, explained what the filing means:
“What that means is they’re requesting a secret ballot election on which they can vote on whether they want the Teamsters to continue to represent them. If they decertify the Teamsters, the nurses are free of a Teamsters contract. And then they remain free to work out terms and conditions of employment with the hospital as individuals.”
Messenger tied the petition to the year-long walkout that began Labor Day 2025: “It definitely relates to the strike. I can only imagine that many of the nurses who want to decertify the union has something to do with this very long and contentious strike that has been going on.”
An NLRB hearing is scheduled for Thursday, September 24, to decide whether an election may proceed. If the Board allows the vote, ballots could be cast in October. Decertification requires a majority of those who vote.
Teamsters Local 332 President Dan Glass said the union has represented Genesys nurses for nearly 30 years and will try to block the petition. He questioned the validity of the signatures and blamed Henry Ford for steering employees toward a pro-employee-rights, non-partisan, non-profit law firm—National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation. Teamster union representative Glass disparagingly referred to them as “anti-union law firms.”
On the strike itself, Glass said the sides have agreed on a large number of contract articles, roughly 20, with more time to be spent on remaining issues, including nurse-to-patient ratios .
wnem.comHenry Ford Health said about 150 nurses have worked through the strike and another 250 registered nurses have been hired. The hospital says it is implementing parts of its proposed terms, including wage increases of up to 13 percent, previous nurse-to-patient ratios, and guaranteed jobs for every striking nurse, with seniority honored.
Why this filing matters
Michigan repealed its Right to Work law, and the repeal took effect in 2024. In a compulsory-unionism state like Michigan, exclusive representation under the National Labor Relations Act locks an entire bargaining unit into monopoly bargaining and, when a so-called union-security clause (i.e., forced union dues) is in the contract, it forces workers to pay union fees as a condition of keeping their jobs. A successful decertification vote is one of the few lawful ways employees can end that arrangement and deal with their employer as individuals.
The Genesys petition is not an isolated Teamsters story. Foundation-backed employees in other states have used the same NLRB process to reject representation by numerous other Teamsters locals. Union officials commonly respond by challenging the showing of interest, filing unfair labor practice charges, or seeking to delay the vote.
Whether those tactics succeed here will be tested at the September 24 hearing.
For employees who want to know their rights—how to resign from a union, how to stop forced dues where the law allows, or how to pursue decertification—the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation provides free legal aid at nrtw.org or 1-800-336-3600.
Source: WNEM, “Petition filed to decertify union at Henry Ford Genesys,” September 21, 2026.